2020-10-12 11:20:00
CHINA'S COAL REDUCING
REUTERS - OCTOBER 12, 2020 - China's leading climate think tanks are pushing for cuts to carbon emissions and coal use over the next five years, according to speeches and a major report China's top experts on climate change and emissions issued on Monday.
The report summarises key findings of 18 government think tank studies, and was published by the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University, to mark the start of a climate seminar in Beijing.
In attendance were some of China's leading climate experts, including Xie Zhenhua, a special adviser on Climate Change Affairs of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), and Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of the MEE, both of whom are expected to help frame China's main climate goals for 2021-2025.
"China should strictly control coal consumption and the expansion of coal-fired power capacity in the next five years, aiming to cap carbon emission from coal sectors by 2025 and even realise negative growth", said He Jiankun, vice director of the National Export Committee on Climate Change, and a report contributor, at a keynote speech at the seminar.
"China is still expected to see growth of natural gas consumption in 2026-2030, so the growth of carbon emission from gas use should be offset by the reduction from coal sector," He added.
The country, which is responsible for about 29% of global carbon dioxide emissions, is expected to endorse ambitious climate-related goals and possibly lower economic growth targets at the upcoming Communist Party conclave, which will determine development blueprints for 2021-2025.
The report made clear that immediate cuts to total energy consumption were required to keep temperature increases to within 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, and stated that even a 2 degree increase would require cutting the share of coal in total energy consumption to 15% by 2050, down from 57.7% in 2019.
The report also called for China to cut its carbon intensity - the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per GDP unit - by 65% by 2030 from 2015 levels, and raise non-fossil fuel consumption to 25% by 2030.
Those targets would be higher than China's pledges as part of the Paris Accord, which called for reducing carbon intensity by 60-65% and for non-fossil fuels to account for 20% of primary energy consumption.
The calls for lower emissions come as China's overall energy needs keep rising.
China's total energy consumption could reach 5.5 billion tonnes of standard coal in 2025, up 13.2% from 2019 levels, the report said, assuming annual gross domestic product growth is more than 5% during the 14th-five year plan period from 2021-2025.
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Earlier:
2020, October, 8, 12:35:00
CHINA MERGES COAL
In 2019, China was the largest coal producer in the world, with an output of 3,691 Mt, followed by India (769 Mt) and the United States (640 Mt).
2020, September, 28, 11:50:00
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The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.3%, to 4,581.91, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% to 3,217.53.
2020, September, 28, 11:40:00
CHINA'S CARBON NEUTRALITY 2060
Official greenhouse gas measurements place China as the world’s largest emitter, at almost 12,500 million tonnes a year,
2020, September, 25, 13:10:00
CHINA LNG IMPORTS UP
China LNG imports are set to hit a record 65-67 million tonnes this year
2020, September, 21, 12:20:00
CHINA'S GAS CONSUMPTION WILL UP
China's consumption of natural gas is estimated to expand by 13 billion cubic meters to 320 billion in 2020, according to the report compiled by the National Energy Administration together with two other think tanks.
2020, September, 16, 12:00:00
CHINA'S LNG PRICES UP
The delivery-price of trucked LNG in eastern China's Yangtze river delta, which is well supplied by LNG receiving terminals, rose to around Yuan 2,693/mt, or Yuan 1.95/cu m, in August, up by 10% from July,
2020, September, 15, 16:20:00
CHINA'S OIL THROUGHPUT 14.06 MBD
China's crude oil throughput hit an all-time high of 14.14 million b/d in June before edging down 0.4% to 14.08 million b/d in July.
